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Shaolin
'''Shaolin '''is a Liberterian colony on the north shore of Staten Island. History Pre-War Italian explorer Giovanni de Verrazzano is credited with being the first European to land on the island, sailing into New York Harbor in 1520 and making anchor on the island for at least one night. The island was settled roughly 100 years later by the Dutch, and was eventually ceded to the English- along with the rest of New York- following their defeat in the Second Angelo-Dutch War. The Island played an important role during the American Revolution. A bastion of pro-British, loyalist sentiment, Lord William Howe designated the island his base in preparation of the invasion of New York City. Some 30,000 British soldiers and Hessian mercenaries occupied the island, which stayed under British control until the end of the American Revolution. Until the mid-20th century, Staten Island existed as a collection of small towns based around agriculture and commercial ventures connected to Brooklyn, Manhattan, and New Jersey by ferries. The development of railroad lines in the late 1800s better connected the different towns to each other, and the island to the rest of the area, but it wasn’t until the widespread use of automobiles and the construction of the Verrazano Bridge in the middle of the 20th century that Staten Island become fully integrated to New York City. Long considered “the last frontier” of New York, the boro retained a unique character even after becoming part of New York City in 1898. Seen as a suburban oasis in the hustle-and-bustle of the city, residents from other parts of the city soon began flocking there because of what it could give residents that the other boros couldn’t: the American dream, complete with single homes on large land plots of surrounded by white picket fences. Between 1960, when the Verrazano Bridge opened and 2000, the population of the island almost doubled, growing from 221,991 to 443,728. The trend continued over the years, and in 2050, the island had a population of nearly 1 million residents. That many people on an island roughly 58 square miles inevitably led to problems. The first of three large-scale riots began in 2052, caused by a television documentary revealing how deep the energy crisis in America was getting. Following the airing of the television program, there was a massive run on gasoline, as suddenly concerned residents felt the need to fill up and top off their Corvega gas guzzlers. Gas stations and other fueling spots quickly dried up, leading to widespread riots and demonstrations. The chaos lasted a few days, before eventually petering out when a declaration of emergency by the mayor of New York City eased restrictions on importing fuel from New Jersey, alleviating the shortage. There were two fatalities in total, a handful of injuries, and just under one million dollars in property damage in what would be known as the Corvega Riots of ’52. The next large-scale disturbance occurred in 2065, when power rationing in the city began in response to a nuclear reactor upstate almost melting down. Residents of the island were not happy about the new policy, like everyone else in the city, but went along with it. Tensions began rising when it became apparent that the more affluent residents on the island’s southern shores were skirting the rules, thanks to their wealth and political connections. Hard feelings turned into hooliganism, which eventually turned into criminal mischief. Throughout the summer, millions of dollars of property damage was incurred as the working class have-nots on the north shore took out their frustrations on the property of south shore residents. While many arrests were made that summer, surprisingly there were no deaths as a result of the vandalism, and only five people were ever charged with any kind of crime. The last, and most costly, disturbance took place in 2068. Around the country, riots began popping up due to food shortages, and Staten Island was no different. The food riots of 2068 were the most costly of all of the riots that plagued the island in the 21st century. As was the case across the city and across the country, the State and National Guard were called in to quell them, and the results were deadly. When the rioting finally ended, almost 500 individuals had been killed or were left in critical condition. Majority of these victims came from the working class north shore, as the wealthier residents of the south shore were able to stockpile food and other necessities. Nobody foresaw what would happen almost ten years later, on October 23rd, 2077. Even if they had, there would have been little if nothing they could have done to prepare for the Great War. Post-War The shores of Staten Island were prone to flooding, such as in 2012 when a hurricane flooded Great Kills Park. The destruction of the Great War caused the sea level to rise, flooding low-lying areas of the island. The sudden floods caused massive devastation and killed thousands. In the days that followed, thousands more were killed in the areas unaffected by the flooding. Chaos reigned. Long after the radiation poisoning and the raiding and the looting and the wonton chaos ended in the years following the Great War, the tides receded. Following the thaw from the Great Winter of 2130, the waters covering northern Staten Island returned to their Pre-War levels, revealing exposing miles of shore than had previously been submerged. During Pre-War times, this area was filled mostly with detached and two-family homes, apartment buildings, and industrial yards. Most of these things were swept away and destroyed in the years the area spent submerged, with only the hardiest and most well-constructed apartment buildings and industrial buildings surviving- albeit, in poor shape. Somewhere after the Great Winter ended and 2150, the McBriden family came to the area. Led by Dalton McBriden, they were a small group, consisting of McBriden’s wife, two children, mother, in-laws, and two cousins. The group settled in the ruins of an apartment building atop a tall hill in what was the Pre-War neighborhood of Silver Lake. The site was highly defensible, close to the Kill Van Kull and New York Harbor shorelines, and, for whatever reason, had a small pack of brahmin grazing nearby, perhaps from previous owners who were no longer among the living. The McBriden’s began tending the nearby land, and took ownership of the cattle they found, caring for them and reaping the benefits of doing so. As the years went by, the small group of former vagrants found themselves amassing more and more. They began trading excess food and brahmin meat to other groups on Staten Island, such as the Travis Swamp People, or the ghouls of Hope. With the profits they made from trading with other communities, they began expanding the lands that they claimed as their own and built the infrastructure needed to support growing their brahmin herd. By the time the 2200s arrived, the small group of settlers had turned into something of a local economic powerhouse. Based out of Overlook Manor, the McBriden family had not only grown in size, but in power and prestige. But as he lands they claimed grew in size, so too did the threats that they faced. The Newark Pirate Association became a thorn in their side around the turn of the century, raiding their land and stealing servants, cattle, and crops. More conventional threats, such as mirelurks, feral ghouls or the occasional raider or two, were issues that the McBriden’s could deal with. The mobility and unpredictability of the Newark Pirate Association was something that they could not. On a moment’s notice, the pirates could sail down the Kill Van Kull and appear on their doorsteps, and were able to disappear back to their stronghold in New Jersey just as fast. These raids became a part of life at Overlook Manor. Despite the occasional hit-and-run attack by the pirates, the McBriden Family continued doing extremely well for themselves, selling crops, brahmin meat, and the brahmin themselves to more and more groups, including the Federal Republic of Libeteria, Brick City, and settlements in Brooklyn. Things changed in 2225, when the pirates led a raid that caused so much property damage, loss of goods, and loss of life that the McBriden’s were forced to reconsider their place in the New York City Wastelands. After much thought, Aaron McBriden, patriarch of the family, came to the conclusion that Overlook Manor would not be able to survive as it had for the last few decades for much longer. While the pirates were certainly always a threat, it was the growing Libeterian problem that caused him the most sleepless nights. While the nation to the north enjoyed cordial relations with the McBridens, buying their crops and cattle, Aaron knew that it was only a matter of time before they stopped asking and took. They had already colonized Staten Island, settling Mirelurk Bay to the southeast of Overlook Manor, and it would only be a matter of time before the soldiers of the federal republic appeared on their doorstep looking to “renegotiate” their trade deal. It would be better, Aaron reasoned, to preempt them. Arranging a meeting with President Landon Thompson of Libeteria, Aaron McBriden negotiated Overlook Manor’s annexation into the federal republic. The McBriden family would hand over a sizable portion of their land and Aaron would allow the Libeterians to come and settle on his land. In exchange, the federal republic would immediately take care of their pirate problem and would forevermore guarantee their safety. In December 2228, both sides agreed, and on January 1, 2229, Overlook Manor became a Libeterian colony. President Thompson called the new colony Shaolin, after a Pre-War name for the former New York City boro. Aaron McBriden did not live much longer, dying of natural causes in 2232. His son, John, became the patriarch of the McBriden family. John had been critical of his father giving up their freedom in exchange for security and believed that the position had made himself enemies among Libeterian bureaucrats. To cement his status among the Libeterian elite, he married off his middle daughter, Julia, to Governor-General James Phatt, the Colonial Directorate. Because Phatt was corrupt and had connections with the Newark Pirate Association, the raid to destroy the group got pushed back, but the Libeterians did eventually follow through, making an alliance with Brick City to deal with the pirates in a conflict known as the Harbor War. In the years since, Shaolin has flourished. The federal republic began expanding, which brought Shaolin into conflict with the Travis Swamp People, but the settlement is otherwise prospering. Economy Before its integration into the Federal Republic of Libeteria, Shaolin had an informal system of peasant tenancy. Wastelanders would agree to tend to the brahmin herds and would farm the land, and in return, the McBriden family provided them with security and a stable living condition. These individuals made no or very little profit off of these activities, but with basic needs like security and shelter being taken care of, most felt it was a fair trade-off. In some cases, members of the family took a liking to the men or women working on their land and married or had children with them, raising their social status. Such occurrences were rare, and in most cases, being a tenant on their land meant that your lot in life stayed static. Since becoming a Libeterian colony, the practice has been phased out, having been deemed a form of slavery and therefore illegal by the Libeterian court system. The McBriden’s have worked around this by having the tenants on their land sign contracts to work the land in exchange for protection and a nominal minimum wage- most of which is swallowed up by tax collectors. Brahmin are the main source of income in the settlement. No one is quite sure where the creatures came from, as Pre-War Staten Island was a highly urban area, but the McBriden family made their fortune from the creatures. Initially, the brahmin they raised were used as capital and currency, but as the New York City Wastelands have become tamer and more civilized, the creatures have turned into symbols of status and profit. In addition to brahmin, farming is a highly profitable venture in Shaolin. The wetlands and woods in and around the settlement are conducive to growing various hardy crops, with the main cash crops being apples, berries, carrots, corn, persimmon, potatoes, radishes, and walnuts. Itchyballs, the seed of a hybrid of the sycamore tree, is another crop that is grown. Being a colony of Libeteria, the official currency of Shaolin is the Republican Dollar, but caps are still in use and accepted by most. Government While many things changed when Shaolin became a Liberterian colony, one thing stayed the same: the McBriden family is in charge. The wealthy and powerful family owns the majority of the land in the settlement, has stacked coffers, and is well-connected to individuals within the Libeterian government. The connection between the family and the federal government was strengthened even further when John McBriden arranged for his middle daughter, Julia, to marry Colonial Director James Phatt. Since the murder of Phatt in Union City in 2260, the McBriden’s do not have the ear the office of Colonial Directorate like they used to, but it is only a matter of time before the elder McBriden makes enough inroads with his son-in-law’s replacement. Layout Though no bombs hit Staten Island during the Great War, much of the island’s northern shore was leveled. In the aftermath of the apocalypse, rising tides swallowed up massive swaths of the north shore. For decades, the land and everything built on it sat in the polluted, contaminated waters of New York Harbor, until the waters receded in the thawing after the Great Winter of 2130. When it reemerged, virtually very structure that had been built on it had been cleared away. The focal point of the settlement is Overlook Manor. Built atop a tall hill in what was the Clifton neighborhood, the mansion is inhabited by the McBriden family, and looks down on the fields and land around it. Interestingly, the same area was home to another rich and powerful Pre-War family, the Van Den Bergs, the rail and shipping magnates who, among other holdings, owned the Empire State Rairoad. The initial settlement, when it was free of Libeterian influence, stretched from Overlook Manor to the Arthur Kill to the north and the Narrows to the west, more or less encompassing the Pre-War neighborhoods of Tompkinsville, New Brighton, and St. George. Since joining Libeteria, the federal republic has grown the settlement, stretching its borders west and south. Shaolin stretches to the west, extending to the former Staten Island Broadway, and to the south, to the former Wagner College. Outside of Overlook Manor, the two most important sites on Shaolin are the Newberry Arms Factory and Libeterian Academy of Science. The Newsberry Arms Factory, built in the ruins of a gypsum factory and warehouse on the Kill Van Kull waterfront that survived the flooding, was opened shortly after Shaolin became a Libeterian colony. Newberry Arms gave the building a new life and have turned the ruined husk of a building into their main arms factory. The Libeterian Academy of Science was also opened shortly after the McBriden family joined with Libeteria. Located near the Newberry Arms Factory, on a plot of land that had once been a museum and heritage site, the Libeterian Academy of Science is a collection of some of the top minds in the nation. Of note is the Hothouse, a section of the academy where botony and hydroponics are studied and the results put into practice. Factions Notable Individuals William De La Cruz Jeffrey De La Cruz is the current governor of Shaolin. On paper, he is the exclusive leader of the settlement, reporting only to the Colonial Directorate, but in reality, he is little more than a feckless bureaucrat that would rather cede responsibility to others in order to avoid having to work. Over the years, John McBriden has manipulated De La Cruz’s laziness, slowly but surely giving his family more and more power and political clout. John McBriden John McBriden is the current patriarch of the McBriden family. Born in 2214, he was raised by his father, Aaron, to be a ruthless businessman and politician. He was raised before Overlook Manor was turned into a Libeterian colony by his father, and while he understands why his father joined with the federal republic, he secretly longs to free the colony from the control of the Libeterian government. A widower, he has five children- Susan, Julia, Christopher, Lucy, and Gary- and an illegitimate child, Robert. He has had a hand in the leadership of the settlement for nearly a half-century, and though well into his 70s, has no designs on giving up that control anytime soon. John McBriden is a no-nonsense man. Those that know him personally describe him as cold, stern, and taciturn. Those that have had business dealings with him describe him as fair but uncompromising and unyielding. Those that work and/or live on lands that his family owns describe him as just but demanding. Individuals that can count John McBriden as an ally consider him a steadfast associate. Those that count John McBriden as an enemy consider him a ruthless adversary. More than anything in the world, he cares about legacy. Everything that he says and everything that he does is calculated and intended to preserve not only his legacy, but the legacy of the McBriden family for future generations. Julia McBriden-Phatt Julia McBriden-Phatt is the middle daughter of John McBriden. Her older sister, Susan, was John’s first child and her younger brother, Christopher, was his first son, so Julia escaped a great deal of responsibility and pressure. Growing up, she was groomed to be a lady, educated in the fine arts and taught to know her place. Sure enough, and perhaps as her father had planned, she was married away to strengthen the McBriden family and further integrate them into the Libeterian aristocracy. Her arranged husband was Governor-General James Phat, holder of the Office of the Colonial Directorate. Her marriage to James Phatt was far from tumultuous, but because the marriage was arranged for political reasons, it was loveless. Both parties accepted that their union was an alliance and did not begrudge the other. Julia allowed James to have his dalliances and affairs, and James allowed Julia to live and spend extravagantly. She purchased and wore the finest clothes available. She wined and dined on the best foods the Post-War world had to offer. She rubbed elbows with the Libeterian elite, pursuing hobbies that highlighted her status in society. After her husband was assassinated, Julia returned to Overlook Manor. While she did not necessarily miss her husband, she missed the privileged status that he bestowed on her. Though rich, the McBriden’s were seen as country bumpkins with money, unsophisticated farmers and ranchers that masqueraded as members of the Libeterian aristocracy, but deep down, were still just unsophisticated farmers and ranchers. She is living out her days in the home that she was born and grew up in, stewing in anger at her situation. Robert Waltman To most in Shaolin, Robert Waltman is an ordinary person, one of the lead farmhands on Overlook Manor. Known only to a select handful of people, Robert Waltman is actually the illegitimate son of John McBriden, patriarch of the family. Born to Jodie Waltman, a worker on a family farm with a quant beauty that McBriden took a liking to, Robert has always been on the periphery of the family, never being acknowledged by his father but always having been taken care of and provided for by him. His mother took the knowledge of her son’s parentage to the grave, leaving only McBriden and Waltman knowing the truth. McBriden has yet to publicly bring the matter up, and Waltman knows that if he did so, he would make a powerful enemy out of his father and would quickly be destroyed. Waltman takes after his father in many ways, but their most striking similarity is his single-handed dedication and willingness to achieve results by whatever means necessary. His burning desire to be officially recognized as a member of the McBriden family and share in their legacy has led to situations where the lives of other members of the family have been put in jeopardy. In at least two occasions, Waltman has tried to unsuccessfully assassinate his half-brothers and half-sisters. In one instance, he used a contact that he had in the Jaeger Pirates to attempt to kidnap his older sister, Lucy, but the plot failed when the contact proved to be unreliable. In another instance, he had a bomb planted in the gyrocopter that his younger brother, Gary, was taking from Shaolin to Battery Park. Prevailing headwinds allowed the vehicle to reach its destination faster, causing the timer that was set up to go off when it was unoccupied, sparing Gary and the pilot. While Waltman was not blamed for the assassination attempt, he has not made any moves since then. Dr. Jason Mendez Relations Being located on an island, Shaolin interacts with other islanders the most. The settlement has cordial relations with Hope, the small ghoul settlement to their south. The ghouls keep to themselves but do trade with Shaolin, trading chems and medical supplies in exchange for foodstuffs. The colony does not have cordial relations with the Travis Swamp people, on the other hand. Before becoming a colony of Libeteria, the McBriden family very rarely came into contact with the Travis Swamp People. Since the expansion of the settlement by the Libeterians, the two sides have come into conflict over land and resources. Though they are both located on Staten Island, Shaolin is not inherently interconnected to Mirelurk Bay, Libeteria’s other colony on the island. Brahmin, brahmin meat, and crops are shipped from Shaolin to the other islands of Libeteria, and because of treaties that the federal republic has signed, Brick City and Queensland as well. The McBridens send thousands of caps worth of cattle to the New York Stockyard as well. The family has a strong connection to the New York Stockyard, as John McBriden secretly helped finance the operation and continues to do so, hoping to use them as leverage should he ever wish to extricate his home from Libeteria. The Newark Pirate Association was the deadliest enemy that the settlement had, before Libeterian annexation and after. When the group was destroyed in 2239, the Jaeger Pirates filled the void, though those pirates are more active in southern Staten Island and only rarely sail to the island’s north shore. Category:New York Category:Communities Category:Places